After a particularly rough day last fall (The short version: Ethan was throwing a HUGE fit in the middle of the Natural History Museum.  I told him that if he didn’t calm down, we’d have to leave.  He didn’t calm down, so we left.  He was extremely upset and was trying to punch/kick/scream as much as possible on the way out, so Jason picked him up and carried him in a way that would keep them both from getting hurt.  We knew that if we could just get him outside, we could help him calm down.  Most of the parents we passed on the way out of the museum gave us tiny “I-feel-your-pain” smiles.  We were calm, if a little embarrassed. After we got to the car, we had Ethan sit on the curb and were beginning to help him regain control when a lady screamed across the parking lot, “Do you want me to call the authorities?”  She proceeds to lecture us, belittle us, call us bad parents, threaten to call the police, etc. This went on for several minutes, during which Ethan was distracted and stopped crying and the lady was convinced that it was her calming influence which had helped him so greatly.  Jason was finally able to make her leave by repeating, “You need to go. Go now” several times. We moved on, helped Ethan and left.  I cried all the way home. That was actually not very short; I apologize.) my sweet friend and I went out for hot cocoa and a little venting time.

The server must have been very in tune (or maybe my red puffy eyes gave her a clue), because when our cocoa arrived, mine was adorned with a heart.

Later that same week (in the midst of the turmoil of waiting for Elijah’s birth), the kids and I were working on a wet-felting project with that same dear friend and her children.  In the sudsy water appeared this perfect heart:

Call it luck or fate or whatever you’d like, but it seems to me that hidden hearts tend to pop up in places when they are most needed.  I’ve seen them in the sidewalk, on days when I’m discouraged.  I’ve seen them in the clouds.  There is one on the door to my bedroom, reminding me of the love within the walls of this home.

This hidden heart is like a love note from God.  It’s like He included that tiny detail on Elijah’s skin just for me.  He’s saying, “It may not have seemed like I was listening to your prayers. But behind the scenes, in ways you can’t comprehend, I was arranging things perfectly for you.  He is worth the wait, don’t you think?”

I absolutely do.

Have you seen any hidden hearts in your life lately?